• Press Release

"Myelination Exhibits Plasticity, Links to Behavior in Adult Brain"

  • BioWorld
  • (November 16, 2012)

Multiple sclerosis is perhaps the best known of the demyelinating disorders, where loss of the insulating sheath called myelin surrounding neurons makes high-speed communication impossible. And social isolation, though it does not cause the loss of existing myelin, slows down the formation of new myelin so that animals who are isolated for a period of time ultimately have less myelin than normal. Scientists from Mount Sinai School of Medicine, who looked at the effects of isolating adult mice on both forebrain myelination and depression-like behaviors. Senior author Dr. Patrizia Casaccia stressed that unlike in demyelinating diseases, existing myelin does not disappear during social isolation. "We are born with very little myelin," Dr. Casaccia said. Myelination proceeds at a rapid pace during the first few years of life. But it continues, to a lesser degree, for decades. "During the third decade of life, new myelin is still being formed." Learn more

About the Mount Sinai Health System

Mount Sinai Health System is one of the largest academic medical systems in the New York metro area, with 48,000 employees working across seven hospitals, more than 400 outpatient practices, more than 600 research and clinical labs, a school of nursing, and a leading school of medicine and graduate education. Mount Sinai advances health for all people, everywhere, by taking on the most complex health care challenges of our time—discovering and applying new scientific learning and knowledge; developing safer, more effective treatments; educating the next generation of medical leaders and innovators; and supporting local communities by delivering high-quality care to all who need it.

Through the integration of its hospitals, labs, and schools, Mount Sinai offers comprehensive health care solutions from birth through geriatrics, leveraging innovative approaches such as artificial intelligence and informatics while keeping patients’ medical and emotional needs at the center of all treatment. The Health System includes approximately 9,000 primary and specialty care physicians and 11 free-standing joint-venture centers throughout the five boroughs of New York City, Westchester, Long Island, and Florida. Hospitals within the System are consistently ranked by Newsweek’s® “The World’s Best Smart Hospitals, Best in State Hospitals, World Best Hospitals and Best Specialty Hospitals” and by U.S. News & World Report's® “Best Hospitals” and “Best Children’s Hospitals.” The Mount Sinai Hospital is on the U.S. News & World Report® “Best Hospitals” Honor Roll for 2024-2025.

For more information, visit https://www.mountsinai.org or find Mount Sinai on Facebook, Instagram, LinkedIn, X, and YouTube.

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